Advertising - Using Sex to Sell

            It is quite common for a young woman to flip through a consumer magazine or turn on the television and find provocative images of beautiful women, and men, in revealing outfits selling a wide range of branded goods. Sexual imagery, varying from modest to the obscene, is used throughout much of the commercial advertising in today's social media. According to Branding Strategy Insider, "Sexual information does grab attention. Sex evokes a hardwired emotional response that is linked to species survival" (Daye). In the advertising world, employing sexual imagery is an effective means to draw attention to a product. However, the marketing industry must be wary of images that traditionalize or stereotype male-female gender roles.
             The above advertisement is a good example of an advertisement that uses sexual imagery to draw attention to a product. The above image shows two women holding two different food bars. Both women are of similar height, ethnicity and hair color. The differences between the women are that the woman on the left is a plus-size woman holding a sugary candy bar whereas the woman on the right is a lean woman holding a Detour protein bar. The text at the top of the advertisement states, "There's Candy Bars.Then There's PROTEIN Candy Bars." (Cape). .
             The advertisers of the referenced image use a, "if you eat this product, then you get this result" sort-of comparison when describing both of the women and both of the food bars. The chocolate candy bar, assuming that it is similar to most candy bars, is high in sugar, and is considered to be full of "empty calories". The term "empty calories" means that this snack has a high caloric content, containing few to no essential nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. Similar foods, considered to be "junk food", which consist of plenty of empty calories, would be cakes, sodas, ice cream and pastries.